The Halt Order: After long discussions, HITLER gave the halt-order to the German army, about 40-45 miles away from DUNKIRK. He gave the halt for a couple of reasons. The main two were that “Hermann Göring, head of the LUFTWAFFE, had mistakenly assured Hitler that his aircraft alone could destroy the ALLIED troops trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk; and [secondly] Hitler himself seems to have believed that Great Britain might accept peace terms more readily if its pride were not wounded by seeing its army surrender” (Britannica).
Britain's Response: It was a chance for Britain to escape, a small chance used wisely. Great Britain started OPERATION DYNAMO, a plan to evacuate the French and English troops out of Dunkirk. The Commander said that they they could evacuate 30,000 soldiers, and that would be a miracle on the account that there were over 400,000 soldiers needing to be saved.
Photograph:British and other Allied troops wading through the water to board ships at Dunkirk, France, 1940.
But because many civilians came with their boats to rescue soldiers, they saved over 338,000 soldiers. After this amazing miracle, “CHURCHILL cautiously advised, ‘We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations’” (Hickman 2).
Results in Numbers: A total of 68,111 were killed, captured, or wounded. Also lost were 243 ships and 106 air-crafts. Along with the ships and air-crafts, 2,472 field guns, 63,879 vehicles, and over 500,000 tons of supplies were destroyed (Hickman 2).
Photograph:German air force members positioning bombs on an aircraft of the Condor Legion, Spain, 1939.
Significance of Decision: It’s hard to tell who actually won the Battle of Dunkirk. Germany did not win because Britain didn’t surrender, but they did get a lot of supplies that were left behind in the evacuation. The Allies did not win because they lost a lot of supplies and lives, but they were able to save almost 340,000 soldiers. The decision to halt at Dunkirk helped the Allies more than the Axis powers because Germany was not able to take over Britain. The British then went on to survive through the BATTLE OF BRITAIN. This may have been because of all the soldiers that were saved at Dunkirk. Around the start of 1941 the U.S. began supporting Great Britain and eventually directly aided them in Europe. Together the U.S. and Britain helped the Allies win the war and defeat Germany.
This is what actually happened.
The Halt Order:
After long discussions, HITLER gave the halt-order to the German army, about 40-45 miles away from DUNKIRK. He gave the halt for a couple of reasons. The main two were that “Hermann Göring, head of the LUFTWAFFE, had mistakenly assured Hitler that his aircraft alone could destroy the ALLIED troops trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk; and [secondly] Hitler himself seems to have believed that Great Britain might accept peace terms more readily if its pride were not wounded by seeing its army surrender” (Britannica).
Britain's Response:
It was a chance for Britain to escape, a small chance used wisely. Great Britain started OPERATION DYNAMO, a plan to evacuate the French and English troops out of Dunkirk. The Commander said that they they could evacuate 30,000 soldiers, and that would be a miracle on the account that there were over 400,000 soldiers needing to be saved.
But because many civilians came with their boats to rescue soldiers, they saved over 338,000 soldiers. After this amazing miracle, “CHURCHILL cautiously advised, ‘We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations’” (Hickman 2).
Results in Numbers:
A total of 68,111 were killed, captured, or wounded. Also lost were 243 ships and 106 air-crafts. Along with the ships and air-crafts, 2,472 field guns, 63,879 vehicles, and over 500,000 tons of supplies were destroyed (Hickman 2).
Significance of Decision:
It’s hard to tell who actually won the Battle of Dunkirk. Germany did not win because Britain didn’t surrender, but they did get a lot of supplies that were left behind in the evacuation. The Allies did not win because they lost a lot of supplies and lives, but they were able to save almost 340,000 soldiers. The decision to halt at Dunkirk helped the Allies more than the Axis powers because Germany was not able to take over Britain. The British then went on to survive through the BATTLE OF BRITAIN. This may have been because of all the soldiers that were saved at Dunkirk. Around the start of 1941 the U.S. began supporting Great Britain and eventually directly aided them in Europe. Together the U.S. and Britain helped the Allies win the war and defeat Germany.